Ann Arbor considers motorcycle/moped parking strategy

Come spring, two-wheeled transportation will be driving downtown Ann Arbor. On an ongoing basis, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority (DDA) has been observing areas of heavy bicycle use to determine where to install bike racks and bike hoops.

And in a more recent sign of the times and an extension of the DDA's successful on-street bike racks program, staffers have been monitoring motorcycle and moped use to bolster its case for the installation of on-street motorcycle and moped parking this spring.

To encourage more eco-friendly motorcycle and moped use and expand the menu of options available for getting downtown, the DDA transportation committee will take up this issue at its March committee meeting, says Amber Miller, a planning and research specialist at the DDA.

In one possible setup, four on-street parking spots would be divided into four spaces each, at a charge of one-quarter the rate, Miller says. The $1.20 hourly rate for a car would equate to 30 cents an hour per motorcycle or moped. Exact locations are yet to be determined and depend on the DDA's mapping of high-usage areas, vetting from the transportation committee, and subsequent feedback from area business owners. Spots using e-park machines would be likelier candidates, she says, because those machines are already configured to handle multiple spaces. Such a parking scheme has already been successfully deployed in San Francisco and Boston.

Mopeds and motorcycles can already dock for free in parking structures and lots, but those tend to attract commuters, Miller says, while "the on-street spaces hopefully will target a higher turnover crowd, people that are coming down to dine, or go to an entertainment venue, or pop into a coffee shop."

"When we hit it on the mark like we did with the on-street bike racks you actually get more accessibility out of that space, because rather than just serving one car, we can serve four mopeds with high turnover," Miller envisions. "It's been very beneficial to both businesses and customers."

The DDA welcomes public input on motorcycle/moped/bike parking via an online request form.

Source: Amber Miller, planning and research specialist at the DDA
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar